Students Get Choice In Enrichment Program At Manchester's Keeney Street School

Students at Keeney Street School are getting the chance to pick their own lesson through an eight-week enrichment program.

On Fridays at 2 p.m., music plays throughout the building to signal students that it's time to leave their classrooms and move to their assigned subject "cluster."

Principal Julie Martin-Beaulieu, who came to the school in 2012, stands in the hallway greeting children as they move to their classes. She said they like the enrichment program and behave better than usual at the end of the school week.

"This is what school should be like," Martin-Beaulieu said. "My office referrals are down at this time."

The program is based on the University of Connecticut Schoolwide Enrichment Model, and has been exclusive in Manchester to Keeney Street School for the last six years.

Students pick from a wide variety of subjects — anything from animals to computers to music — and once a week for eight weeks they meet with a group studying a particular topic.

This year, Martin-Beaulieu and her staff made a change in how the clusters were created.

"We did a student interest survey," Martin-Beaulieu said. "All of the kids identified a general topic they would be interested in. The teachers got the results, and based on that, they designed a cluster."

A large number of students expressed interest in animals, leading to the creation of a bird explorers cluster and a dog cluster. This year the staff created a Pokémon cluster and a rap music cluster.

Davante Ferris, a 9-year-old fourth-grader, and his friend Garrett Trim, a 10-year-old fifth-grader, both chose the rap music session.

"It's fun," Ferris said. "There's a little bit more freedom."

Both Ferris and Trim thought they'd never have the chance to work on rap lyrics during school, but as Martin-Beaulieu watches students perform their verses, she's confident in her choice to create the group.

"There's no better place to be than a school," Martin-Beaulieu said. "That's how it should be. Schools exist for the sole purpose of growing people. Many kids would not say the first place they'd like to go is school, and I'd like to change that.

"Giving kids choice and tapping into what excites them about learning could get us closer to that place."

The cluster program has also given two students an chance to teach.

Mia Hickey, a 9-year-old fourth-grader, is helping lead a cluster on Irish step-dancing. She has her own practice on Thursdays and then comes to school on Fridays to teach other students.

"It's different because I'm usually the one in the background and not in the front," Hickey said. "I'm usually one of the students learning. It's interesting to be one of the co-teachers."

Amber Moriarty, a 10-year-old fifth-grader, has made use of her musical talents to teach a cluster on playing the ukulele.

"Teaching the cluster … is hard but a good challenge for me," Moriarty said. "Everyone loves coming to clusters and they get all excited. It's a good way to end the school day."